XxXxX Haunted XxXxX
by Lady.Lera
Summary: Tabatha Black has wanted to work for the BAU for a long time, but is held back by the fact that she is deaf. Working her way to the pentagon instead, Tabatha receives a transfer of a lifetime. Now working with the team, she sparks a curiosity with Reid. The genius may have just bitten off more than he expected, and with that comes strange feelings. Will it spark? Or cause a rift?


**Haunted**

Story Summary: Tabatha black is an interesting case. Deaf and working in the Pentagon, Tabatha wanted nothing more than to have the opportunity to work with the BAU. Having all the credits and skills she needs, she was unable to qualify due to her hearing. However when her boss becomes very interested in getting his star employee where she wants to be, he reaches out to Aaron Hotcher, the team leader of the BAU. Making an agreement, Tabatha is transferred to the team for a probationary period. As she works alongside the team, she build bridges, mends others and learns that even the darkest parts of your past can be shared. And when a certain boy-genius sets his mind on figuring out the young Miss Black, he finds out more than he bargained for. Fully understanding her past, the two begin to grow close. Will this love blossom? Or will it fail and create a rift in the team?

Characters: Tabatha 'Tabby' Black, Spencer Reid, Jenifer 'J.J' Jareau, David Rossi, Derek Morgan, Penelope Garcia, Emily Prentiss and Aaron 'Hotch' Hotchner.

* * *

**_Prologue_**

_"No weapon can cause more pain than heartbreak. Heartbreak causes physical, emotional, and mental pain all at once. It drives you insane. Weapons don't even compare. Not even a bit. Not even at all" _

xXx Unknown xXx

Red hair swayed against tan skin as Tabatha walked up the stairs towards her bedroom. The fifteen year old checked her phone, her chest heaved as she rolled her eyes and glared at the time. 10pm was far too late for her to still be up. 'I have a million things to do tomorrow, and I am going to be tired on top of everything. Just great!' Not that she had not appreciated her parents attempted at a celebration for her entrance into the honor roll once again this year. The fact that she worked hard for this every year made the celebration seem a little pointless to her now. All she wanted to do was graduate in the honor role and then she would feel like celebrating. Until she achieved her goal, the celebrations seemed premature, but she did not have the heart to tell her mother and father this. Hence why, the night before her final presentation of the year, Tabby was crawling into bed almost an hour and a half later than normal. She was just glad that she had a chance to run through the presentation earlier that day and was not lacking in the practise time.

Feeling a hand on the small of her back, Tabatha jumped and whirled around to find her mother standing behind her. She smiled and greeted her with a small wave, leaning against the banister and watching as her mother dove into sign language.

"Are you headed to bed darling?" Her mother spoke while signing, which helped Tabatha both with her own speech and with her lip reading skills, another thing she aspired to be good at.

"Yeah, big day tomorrow, need as much sleep as I can get" she signed back, utilising her weak off pitch voice, the cracks and broken words a result of not being able to hear herself talk. She had been going to speech therapy to attempt to gain a proper use of her voice, to strengthen the one thing she never used as a child.

"I'll send your dad up to say goodnight, he leaves for his shift soon.." Her mother replied. Kissing Tabby's cheek, she turned and bounced down the stairs. Tabatha smiled and shook her head. Her mother had always been rather eccentric and it had not faded into the women's elderly years. Not that her mother was all that old, but she had more spunk and a bigger spring in her step than most of Tabatha's friends moms did.

Entering her spacious room, Tabatha sat down at her old style boudoir, cleaning off the makeup of the day with a damp cloth. She removed her earrings, the pearl necklace her mother had bought her and the gold ring with a single ruby cut to be similar to a rose. She set everything in their proper jewelry boxes. She reached up and released her hair from the ponytail it had been in all day. Picking up her large brush, she ran it through her hair, releasing the knots before setting the brush down once again. Standing up, the girl walked into her bathroom, brushing her teeth and washing her face properly before stripping down and changing into the pajamas she had laid out earlier. She knew she would be late, and exhaustion was settling in. Once she was dressed, she left her bathroom and dumped her old clothes into the laundry basket by her door. Turning on a lamp she grabbed a book, shut off the main light and curled up under her Doctor Who comforter.

Tabatha often considered herself to be very lucky, though some argued. While she had never heard the song of the morning birds, the crickets in the evening, the music her parents played, the sound of their voices, their laughter or their heartbeats, she had felt the comforting drumlike vibrations of their hearts, she had managed to sit in complete silence and have a bird land on her finger, she had used her sight to chase and catch crickets as a child. She experienced the joy that crossed her parents eyes when they laughed, saw the love they hold for her when they speak to her. There was so much tied down to sound that people miss what they can see, what they can touch and smell and taste. Like the taste of the air when the bacon is cooking, yes she missed the sizzling and popping noises that it made, but she could see the grease fly out of the pan, taste the bacon in the air and feel the warmth that enveloped the room. There were so many things that she could taste, smell and feel that many others ignored. Tabatha was lucky to have a family that loved her despite her flaws, a family that had been there even through her darkest and most trying moments. She had a mother who quit her job as a successful lawyer to stay at home with her deaf child and help her learn how to communicate. She had a father who served in the army, and when he retired, came home to his town and became the police chief, yet he still made time for his wife and daughter, he still made time to stay fit and healthy so he could be with his family for as long as possible. Yes, Tabatha was very lucky indeed.

Seeing movement snapped Tabby out of her stupor. She smiled up at her dad as he sat down on the edge of her bed. Pushing herself up, Tabatha gently placed her hand on her father's cheek, a smile crossing both their lips at their nightly ritual.

"You are going to have good dreams tonight right my princess?" he murmured, only speaking since it was the same words every night and Tabatha could pick them out of anything.

"It's a promise. Dreams of castles and princes with knights who are as strong as you! I will dream of Arthur and his knights, fighting off the bad sorcerers with the help of Merlin" she murmured "None of them will be as brave or as heroic as my daddy though" she added and smiled brightly. She knew that to most she was far too old for this, but she loved it and it had become a ritual. An underlying message of love and a promise of security was the true meaning of the script.

"I will go out and fight the bad guys on this side, I will never let them take away your innocent, sweet dreams. I promised to protect you for as long as I could when you were born. And each night before I leave, I renew that promise so you never forget I am always here." Her father leaned over and presses a light kiss to Tabatha's forehead "Sleep well my princess. I will see you when the sun rises."

With a final wave, Tabatha snuggled into her bed and turned off her lamp. She curled underneath the blanket, disappearing in the sleep that very quickly took over her consciousness. She never heard her discarded book cause a thud on the floor hours later, never heard her mother's desperate pleas that 'they' not hurt her precious daughter, that they just leave them all alone. She never heard the final scream that erupted from her mother's throat. The anguish cry of her father when he arrived home. The painful screams that followed as he was killed slowly. She never felt the eyes that watched her sleep, never heard the boots that walked across her floor. She missed the argument that followed on whether or not to kill her. She would never know the plan made that kept her alive.

* * *

xXx The Next Morning xXx

Tabatha woke the next day with the sun piercing through the blinds in her room. She rolled over, confusion crossing her face as to why she was only waking up now, why her mother had allowed her to oversleep. She had spare first period, so she was not worried about being late, she could always get a drive in from her father, make it in time for second period. Deciding to bring it up with her mom when she got downstairs. Tabatha stood up and staggered to her bathroom, stripping down and stepping into her shower. Once she was clean and dried off, her hair dry and braided down her back, she pulled on a pair of white-wash jeans, a tank-top with a loose, light grey, open cardigan overtop. She pulled on her ruby ring, a pair of onyx studs and her silver cross. Deciding to forgo the makeup today, she packed her school bag and slung it over her shoulder before walking down the stairs. Her sock feet padding against the carpet as she bounded down her wide stairs. She slid open the kitchen door, her bag falling to the ground, her eyes wide. A scream ripped from her throat. She felt arms wrap around her a few minutes later and recognized the scent of her neighbors cologne, the last thing that was burned into her memory before hands closed over her eyes was the white rose, dripping with crimson blood, and the skinned bodies of her parents.

* * *

XxX End of Chapter XxX

* * *

oOoOo Authors Note oOoOo

**[ ****_So this is the remake of Stricken. Hope the first chapter is written well enough, I took a longer time going back and reading the chapter as I wrote it to keep within the proper parameters and not change details as I went. I found too many mistakes in Stricken, though until I reach a certain point in Haunted I am going to leave Stricken up as a sort of guide through the direction of the story. I don't want to veer too much away from the original plot. Little tidbit of information, my word count is the story aspect of the chapter only. All extra's were added after. Example: Title, Authors Note and the word count itself! Not sure when the next chapter will be out._****]**


End file.
